1:38 AM,
Apr. 7, 2014

Written by

Deborah Barfield Berry
| Gannett

Democrats and civil rights groups are stepping up demands for Congress to move on legislation that would require some Southern states, including Mississippi and Louisiana, to once again get federal approval before making election changes.

Almost 160 Democrats in Congress recently wrote House Republican leaders calling for action on the stalled bill, which they said would "restore the safeguards of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.''

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., signed the letter. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, didn't, saying the measure wouldn't include key states with a ...